Life Is A Metaphor

Life is a metaphor. A day to day interaction between things, events, and people; all presented to you as a living lesson. Pay attention and you will see that you are surrounded by messages right there just waiting for you to listen to them.

Years ago, I was drawn to metaphors to help me guide a school staff through changing times. The symbolism worked as a way to visualize the journey and organize the path.

Then, just recently, I started writing again, inspired by emotional events in my life along with the messages that spoke to me at the time. Those writings turned into a series of blog posts that aired my pain. While the writings were seen by some, they were not necessarily publicized because they were so deeply personal. I, on the other hand, grew tremendously just from the act of writing them.

A few years back, I shared a video entitled “Ira Glass On Storytelling” (Shiyang Lia, D.). The message was to believe in your creativity. I posted a note, along with the video, that said that I often feel as though I fall short of true creativity but was inspired by the video. One person responded immediately to my post saying that my comment surprised her as she had always seen me as highly creative. While I have heard this before, I have tossed it aside thinking that my spontaneous little ditties were not of the truly creative caliber of a real artist.

Then, a few days later, I receive a large envelop in the mail from a Facebook friend who had recently written and published a children’s book. I was one of the first to buy a copy; so pleased to know this person; so proud of his accomplishment. I assumed that perhaps he had written another one and was gifting me with a copy. Instead, it was a book entitled “The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron (2002). Inside was a note from him that echoed what the other person had said, that he felt the Ira Glass video was wonderful and timely for him but that he, too, had always seen the creative spirit in me and was surprised to think that I did not. He wanted me to read this book. He said, “When I bought this book for myself, I bought a couple of extra copies that I could ‘pay forward’ if I ran into someone I thought might enjoy them. After reading that you feel like you fall short of creativity, I felt inspired to send you a copy.”

I started reading the book, which begins by assigning the task of writing three pages a day. They are called “Morning Pages” (p. 9-12). I was also to write out creative affirmations (p.36-37) for myself; over and over and over again until I could start to believe them. It was here that I wrote the first affirmations that I wanted to believe. It goes like this: “I am a channel for God’s creativity, and my work comes to good.” This simple sentence is freeing my soul. I can let go of the feeling that I am being selfish in thinking that my words have value. I am now holding the belief that God is working through me and it’s God’s words that have value.

So, the journey begins one more time and with God’s help, my hope is that you find that your life, as well, is a series of beautiful, teaching metaphors. Listen to them, learn from them. Know that it’s God’s way of guiding your journey. He has been there all along to guide mine.